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graphs      CLIMATE-UK.COM'S  REVIEW  OF  THE  BRITISH  METEOROLOGICAL  SCENE
     MONTHLY  SUMMARY
     No. 579 For   MARCH   2004
           DRY IN THE EAST;  RATHER WET IN THE WEST.   OFTEN RATHER COLD. 
Text Box: Generally high pressure up to the 11th was followed by southwesterlies from the 13th-20th, then northwesterlies from the 21st-27th. High pressure returned at the end of the month. Mean monthly sea-level pressure was 5 to 7 mbar above normal over the entire UK. March opened with high pressure centred over the UK, snow lying in many northern and eastern districts, frosty nights and sunny days. Lowest minima included -11.7ēC at Redesdale (Northumberland) on the 1st and -12.0ēC at Aboyne (Aberdeenshire) on the 2nd. The next few days were cloudier and milder with occasional rain and some hill fog, but hail and sleet showers with local thunder affected eastern and central districts on the 6th/7th as a northerly flow developed for a time. This flow backed easterly between the 10th and 12th; at first most districts were generally dry and cold with variable amounts of sunshine and night frosts, but on the 11th Atlantic fronts advancing from the southwest brought widespread snow followed by rain and a thaw on the 12th. Before the thaw arrived some 10-15cm of snow lay over high ground in south and mid Wales, while rainfall totalled 45mm in 48 hours at Plymouth. A changeable southwesterly type lasted from the 13th to the 20th. All districts became mild, but rain fell frequently especially in the west and north of the UK; 42mm fell at Capel Curig (Snowdonia) on the 18th, and weekly totals of 120-160mm were logged in uplands areas of Wales, Cumbria and western Scotland. There
Text Box: was, however, a brief fair and warm spell on the 16th when 18-19ēC was reached as far north as Kinloss (Moray). Gales swept the country on the 19th and 20th, a gust of 87kn being recorded at Aberdaron (Lleyn peninsula) on the latter date. From the 21st to the 25th a rather cold and very showery northwesterly flow held sway. Many of the showers were heavy especially in eastern districts; they were accompanied by thunder, hail and sleet at times, with snow over high ground, but there were also good sunny intervals particularly in western Britain and Northern Ireland. The period 26th-28th was warmer in Scotland with some sunshine, but southern districts remained rather cold with some drizzle and hill fog. Most parts of the UK enjoyed some warm and sunny weather at the month’s end, the temperature climbing to 20.1ēC at Northolt (NW London), on the 31st, but easterly winds brought low cloud and fog to some North Sea coasts. The general impression was of a rather cold month but milder days around the 4th, 13th-21st, and 29th onwards were sufficient to lift mean monthly temperatures close to or slightly above the 1971-2000 mean in all regions, yet only three Marches in the last 15 years were colder. It was a rather wet month in western and southern Scotland, Northumberland and Cumbria, and also in parts of Wales and Northern Ireland. By contrast large parts of eastern and central England had less than half the normal March rainfall. Sunshine was generally plentiful except in parts of East Anglia and Southeast England where there was a shortfall of up to 20 per cent.
                                                                                                                                         
                       TEMPERATURE                                SUNSHINE                             RAINFALL                                                       
                                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                 
                   
No. of days with grass minimum below 0ēC
                      Highest and lowest totals    
Maximum fall in 24 hrs (beginning 09 h)
                Highest and lowest totals    
Days with snow or sleet
 
Days with fog (Vis <220 yards at 09 h)
 
     
Difference from average
   
Difference from average
             
Days of no sunshine
                      on record for month                         on record for month        
                                                                                         
           
Highest maximum
   
Lowest minimum
         
Maximum duration
       
First year of record
         
Days of no rainfall (0.1 mm or less)
         
First year of record
         
Days with thunder
     
       PLACE  
Mean Maximum
   
Mean minimum
             
No. of air frosts
       
Total for month
                   
Total for month
                   
                               
% of average
                   
% of average
                 
                                                                     
                                   
Highest
   
Lowest
 
Year
             
Highest
   
Lowest
 
Year
       
             
Date
   
Date
         
Date